Babu seeks support from California in Tech

Hyderabad, May 5 (INN): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu began a week-long visit to the United States of America during which he would hold several meetings with the 'who's who' of the industry to assure them that Andhra Pradesh is the right place for investments and innovations.

The Chief Minister received a warm welcome at the San Francisco Airport from several enthusiastic supporters from NRI TDP, Bay Area, AP Janma Bhumi and AP NRT wings.

Immediately after this arrival, the Chief Minister held his first meeting with Mike McNamara, CEO, Flextronics, and then flew to Sacramento, the Capital of California, to meet its Governor.

In his interaction with Mike McNamara, the Chief Minister spoke about the enormous advantages Andhra Pradesh has to offer in terms of location and accessibility.

He said, 'Our State is centrally located in India's East coast and is accessible to Southeast Asian countries. We have well maintained airports, deep draft ports and we provide 24x7 quality power. Not just these our skilled labour force is an added advantage for companies who are looking at business friendly destinations.'

The Chief Minister also highlighted the friendly business atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh besides citing that it stood first in the Ease of Doing Business rankings.

Chandrababu Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh is a potential logistics hub of India and that it is the right time for Flex to expand the scope of their existing operations in Visakhapatnam.

While Mike McNamara expressed his intent to pursue their expansion plans soon, Chandrababu Naidu exhorted him to expedite the issue.

The Chief Minister later informed Mike McNamara about the digital initiatives being taken up by the government in the state.

Besides inviting them to expand their operations, the Chief Minister also assured all the needed help from his State in this regard.

Meeting with Governor of California

The Chief Minister, who has a power-packed schedule in the US, immediately flew to Sacramento to meet the Governor of California, Mr. Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr.

Chandrababu Naidu provided an insight about the political atmosphere in the State to the Governor and apprised him about the key role the Telugu Desam Party has been playing in the national politics over the years. He said the TDP had been an ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance before and now as well.

The Chief Minister also explained to the Governor about the unscientific manner of Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation. He said, 'Due to that hasty decision, Andhra Pradesh was left without a capital. But now, we have a great opportunity to build a capital for ourselves'.

He sought California's help in collaborating in areas such as technology, industry and agriculture.

The Chief Minister said that Andhra Pradesh would emerge as the gateway to Southeast Asia given its long coast line and the presence of deep water ports.

The Chief Minister invited the Governor to visit Andhra Pradesh.

ARM Holdings Meeting

When the Chief Minister met Simon Segars, CEO of ARM Holdings, the latter apprised him about their activities and indicated that they are concentrating more on IOT. For his part, the Chief Minister explained how Andhra Pradesh is integrating technology in governance and taking welfare programmes to the people.